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Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.
| birth_place =Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place =Edwards Air Force Base, California, U.S. | occupation =Test pilot | alma_mater =Bradley University, B.S. 1956 Ohio State University, Ph.D. 1965 | rank =Major, U.S. Air Force | selection =1967 USAF MOL Group 3 | time =None | mission =None | insignia =None }} Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. (October 2, 1935 – December 8, 1967) was a United States Air Force officer and the first African-American astronaut.Maj. Robert H. Lawrence from the U.S. Air Force's official website Early years Lawrence was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Haines Elementary School and, at the age of 16, he graduated in the top 10 percent from Englewood High School in Chicago, in 1952. At the age of 20, he graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. At Bradley, he distinguished himself as Cadet Commander in the Air Force ROTC and received the commission of second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve Program. Air force At the age of 21, he was designated as a U.S. Air Force pilot after completing flight training at Malden Air Force Base. At 22, he married Barbara Cress, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Cress of Chicago. By the time he was 25, he had completed an Air Force assignment as an instructor pilot in the T-33 training aircraft for the German Air Force. In 1965, Lawrence earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Ohio State University. His doctoral thesis was "The Mechanism Of The Tritium Beta Ray Induced Exchange Reaction Of Deuterium With Methane and Ethane In The Gas Phase."Chemistry Department Scholarships from the Bradley University website[http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=4559324 The mechanism of the tritium beta-ray induced exchange reactions of deuterium with methane and ethane in the gas phase] He was a senior USAF pilot, accumulating well over 2,500 flight hours, 2,000 of which were in jets. Lawrence flew many tests in the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter to investigate the gliding flight of various unpowered spacecraft returning to Earth from orbit, such as the North American X-15 rocket-plane. NASA cited Lawrence for accomplishments and flight maneuver data that "contributed greatly to the development of the Space Shuttle." Astronaut In June 1967, Lawrence successfully completed the Air Force Flight Test Pilot Training School at Edwards AFB, California. The same month, he was selected by the USAF as an astronaut in the Air Force's Manned Orbital Laboratory (MOL) program, thus becoming the first black astronaut. Robert Lawrence was also a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Death Lawrence was killed in the crash of an F-104 Starfighter at Edwards Air Force Base, California. He was flying backseat on the mission as the instructor pilot for a flight test trainee learning the steep-descent glide technique. The pilot flying made such an approach but flared too late. The airplane struck the ground hard, its main gear failed, it caught fire, and rolled. The front-seat pilot ejected upward and survived, with major injuries. The back seat, which delays a moment to avoid hitting the front seat, ejected sideways, killing him instantly. Had Lawrence lived, he likely would have been among the MOL astronauts who transferred to NASA after the program's cancellation, all of whom flew on the Space Shuttle. During his brief career, Lawrence earned the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Outstanding Unit Citation. On December 8, 1997, his name was inscribed on the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. See also *List of African-American astronauts References External links * Biography of Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. from Spacefacts.de Lawrence, Robert Henry Category:American astronauts Category:United States Air Force officers Category:American test pilots Category:1935 births Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:1967 deaths Category:Bradley University alumni Category:Ohio State University alumni Category:U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni Category:Space program fatalities Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Category:Accidental deaths in California Category:American physical chemists